Mothers united against discrimination

Christine El Issa

Tuesday, 13 March 2018

I joined the Progressive Alliance for Mothers to confront Islamophobia

I arrived in the UK 8 years ago from the USA. I am a practising Christian who met and married a British Muslim man after arriving. My white family are staunch Trump supporters. Due to the clash of beliefs I no longer have contact with my family. Anger and grief over racism has prompted me to join Mothers for a Progressive Alliance to help combat Islamophobia.

The rise in hate crime and in racial incidents related to Islamophobia is on the rise. Last year, I was at Victoria Station with my husband’s niece. She wears a headscarf. A group of young White British men walked menacingly towards her and mockingly reached out to grab her scarf but stopped short of actually pulling it off.

Since then, I have been more motivated than ever to engage with social justice and political action. My 5 year old daughter is mixed race and is seeing hatred on a constant basis. I don’t want her to think that this is a normalised way of living and coping with her Muslim heritage.

The Tory Government’s austerity policies are much to blame for this climate of racism. Austerity feeds income inequality and people blame ‘others’ for their low living standards. People from Black and other ethnic minority groups still have less access to quality education and employment. I work as a social worker and we are struggling more than ever in the wake of decimated public services.

A Progressive Alliance for mothers should seek to expose and rebut the government’s racist policies. The Tory Party’s campaign during the London mayoral elections against Sadiq Khan and during the Brexit Referendum contained many blatant racist overtures. These government ‘sponsored’ acts have real life repercussions for people like my husband, my daughter and me. As a mother, I am determined to fight racism and Islamophobia more specifically through this alliance.